1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a prosthetic hip stem for implantation in the femur as a component of a prosthetic hip joint. More particularly, the present invention relates to a prosthetic hip stem having a fully porous coating and a contoured neck portion.
2. Description of the Related Art
Orthopedic implants are commonly used to replace some or all of a patient's hip joint in order to restore the use of the hip joint, or to increase the use of the hip joint, following deterioration due to aging or illness, or injury due to trauma. In a hip replacement, or hip arthroplasty procedure, a femoral component is used to replace a portion of the patient's femur, including the femoral neck and head. The femoral component is typically a hip stem, which includes a stem portion positioned within the prepared femoral canal of the patient's femur and secured via bone cement, or by a press-fit followed by bony ingrowth of the surrounding tissue into a porous coating of the stem portion. The hip stem also includes a neck portion adapted to receive a prosthetic femoral head. The femoral head is received within a prosthetic acetabular component, such as an acetabular cup received within the prepared recess of the patient's acetabulum.
One known hip stem includes a core formed of either a cobalt-chromium-molybdenum alloy or titanium, and a porous surface layer in the form of a matrix of small metallic beads or a wire mesh. Typically, the porous surface layer is sintered to the core by heating the core and the porous surface layer to a high temperature in order to cause the porous surface layer and core to fuse, melt, or bond together along their interface. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,395,327, 6,514,288, and 6,685,987, each assigned to the assignee of the present invention and hereby incorporated by reference, disclose various methods of enhancing the fatigue strength and the connection between the core and the porous surface layer of the foregoing types of hip stems.